Sunday, March 27, 2011

Sunday morning toons: Those violet eyes

(Updated below, with link repair and political clarification.)

Today's toon selections feature real kinetic cartooning action!TM They've been rigorously identified and picked out of the rubble from this week's political cartoon no-fly zone at Slate, Time, Mario Piperni, About.com, and Daryl Cagle:

The Ann Telnaes site at the Washington Post wasn't working last week. Now it's back with a new format . . . and no permalink to this week's animation about South Dakota's 72-hour waiting period for abortions. (Slightly farther down the page, they've also misspelled Mike Luckovich's name on the link to his syndicated cartoons. Come on, WaPo -- shape up!)

"They were supposed to come to life, but the experiment failed, somehow." Wait . . . "Somehow??" You mean, otherwise it shoulda worked? "The Mummy Strikes" (1943), the 14th of 17 beautifully rotoscoped Superman cartoons by Famous Studios (and prior to that, by Fleischer Studios) has the whole package: A suspicious murder, the tomb of an ancient Egyptian boy-king, scientists meddling in things scientists were never meant to meddle in, nosy reporters, and . . . say it with me . . . a dreadful curse. Directed by Dan Gordon, animated by H. C. Ellison and the magnificently-named Orestes Calpini. Musical credit shared by Fleischer/Famous stalwart Sammy Timberg with Winston Sharples (who went on to compose for the inferior King Features Popeye cartoons of the 1960s, plus such minor classics as "Milton the Monster" and "Tennesee Tuxedo"). Clark/Superman is voiced by Bud Collier, who kept that gig from the original radio serial all the way through (I hate to even utter the name) "Superfriends." (Update: Embed link fixed. Also, there's no truth to the story that, when the governors of Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin heard "The Mummy Strikes," they said "Then we'll cut off his food stamps!" That's just an malicious rumor.)

(Note to Facebook friends: If you're reading this in FB Notes, you'll need to click View Original Post, below, to see the video.)

No p3 Bonus Toon:Jesse Springer's on vacation. Here -- browse his site. Just don't touch anything until he gets back.

Nothstine is a writer, editor, political junkie, and renegade professor. Contact him here.

*Why p3?

"A good cause is often injured more by ill-timed efforts of its friends than by the arguments of its enemies. Persuasion, perseverance, and patience are the best advocates on questions depending on the will of others." -Thomas Jefferson (1826)